1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an auxiliary module for attachably and detachably connecting a casing, provided with an auxiliary like an onboard CCD camera and with a baseplate, with mating parts like wires by using connectors and to a relaying component used in the auxiliary module, wherein a catch of the wires is prevented when the auxiliary module is assembled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Based on FIG. 10-FIG. 13, a prior art camera module Z is described. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a part of a wiring harness 4 having a clamp 50 with an O-ring 51. The wiring harness is generally formed by binding wires and attachin connectors thereto so that the wires and connectors can be easily assembled to a motor vehicle in its assembly line.
The O-ring 51 shown in FIG. 10 is provided to the clamp 50 so as to keep airtightness in the camera casing 3. The clamp 50 has a threaded portion 50a to securely fix itself to the camera casing 3, a hexagon head portion 50b, and a flange portion 50c to push the O-ring 51 to seal.
And, a passing-through hole 50d to let wires or cables 4a,4axe2x80x2 pass therethrough is provided inside the clamp 50. As shown in FIG. 10, terminals TL1 are attached to the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2. Each terminal TL1 is accommodated in a connector housing. Like this, a connector CR1 is formed at the end of the wiring harness 4 as shown in FIG. 11. The connector housing holds the terminals properly in accommodating chambers. The connector has the connector housing, terminals, and wires.
The clamp 50 shown in FIG. 10 is potting-processed after the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 are inserted therein. The potting processing PG is easily described as a processing of sealing a portion by pouring soft rubber like epoxy polymer.
By the potting processing PG, the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 can be completely sealed up, and therefore an immersion of water and dust into the camera 1 and the camera casing 3 can be prevented.
FIGS. 11,12 are perspective views of a prior art camera module Y,Z with an onboard CCD camera 1. The camera module Y mainly consists of the camera 1, such as a onboard CCD camera 1, and a baseplate 2 provided with the camera 1. And, the camera module Z has the camera module Y, a camera casing 3 to which the camera module Y is attached, and the wiring harness 4 having the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2. 
FIG. 13 is a partial sectional view, taken along a line Rxe2x80x94R in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, of the camera casing 3, while showing another parts to which a wiring harness 4 is connected.
CCD (Charge Coupled Device) converts signals, taken in as light of image, into electrical signals, and has a large number of pixels. CCD is adopted to the digital camera, facsimile, scanner, duplicator machine, and the like.
The prior art camera module Z shown in FIG. 11-FIG. 13 is described in detail. Referring to FIGS. 11,12, the camera 1 mainly consists of a lens 1a and a lens rim portion 1b fixing the lens 1a. Next, the baseplate 2 to which the camera 1 is attached is mainly formed with a baseplate body 2xe2x80x2, on which, for example, connectors to carry out electric connection are mounted.
A connector CR2 is provided on the baseplate 2 of the camera module Y. The connector housing of the connector CR2 is soldered, or screwed, to the baseplate body 2xe2x80x2. Four attaching holes 2b for fixing the baseplate 2 by screws SC1 to the camera casing 3 are provided on the baseplate body 2xe2x80x2.
The camera casing 3 made by aluminum-die-casting is surrounded by four sidewalls 3d, 3dxe2x80x2 and a bottom wall 3c, thereby forming an accommodating chamber 3e. And, a cylindrical projection 3h to fix the clamp 50 is provided on the sidewall 3dxe2x80x2. Four screw fixing bodies each having an internal-thread hole 3b to fix the baseplate 2 having the camera 1 are provided in the accommodating chamber 3e of the camera casing 3.
Referring to FIG. 13, a through-hole 3f to put the wiring harness 4 therethrough is provided on the sidewall 3dxe2x80x2 of the camera casing 3. And, an internal-thread to be screwed with the threaded portion 50a of the clamp 50 is provided on an inner surface of the through-hole 3f. The clamp 50 shown in FIG. 10 is attached to the through-hole 3f provided on the sidewall 3dxe2x80x2 of the camera casing 3.
As shown in FIG. 13, a non-waterproof connector CR3 equipped in a vehicle V is electrically connected to the camera casing 3 by the wiring harness 4. And, a drain wire 4axe2x80x2 of the wiring harness 4 is provided with a terminal TL2, which terminal TL2 is attached to a frame of a vehicle body B by a screw SC2, thereby functioning as the ground line.
And, referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the connector CR1 connected to the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 is coupled to the connector CR2 equipped on the baseplate 2, thereby making an electric connection therebetween. A grommet (not shown) is provided on some portions of the wiring harness 4 for the purpose of the waterproofing or dustproofing.
An assembly method of the camera module Z having the onboard CCD camera 1 of the prior art is described hereinafter. First, the clamp 50 with the O-ring 51 is attached to the wiring harness 4 shown in FIG. 13. Next, the wiring harness 4 with the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 is inserted in the passing-through hole 50d of the clamp 50. And, the clamp 50 is fixed to the wiring harness 4 provisionally.
A tube 4d of the wiring harness 4 inside the camera casing 3 has been cut off, and the terminal TL1 is attached to each end of the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2. The connector CR1 shown in FIG. 11 is formed by accommodating terminals TL1 in its housing.
In order to improve the sealability between the wiring harness 4 and the clamp 50, resin or rubber is filled into the passing-through hole 50d of the clamp 50 shown in FIG. 10, that is, the potting processing PG is carried out.
Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the above clamp 50 with the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 is attached to the through-hole 3f of the camera casing 3. And, the threaded portion 50a of the clamp 50 is screwed to the through-hole 3f of the camera casing 3, and the clamp 50 is fixed to the camera casing 3. By the O-ring 51 and the potting processing PG, sealability or airtightness of the camera casing 3 is attained.
And, the baseplate 2 with the camera 1, i.e. the camera module Y, is attached to the camera casing 3 as follows. Referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the connector CR1 of the wiring harness 4 is connected to the connector CR2 provided on the baseplate body 2xe2x80x2.
The camera module Y is put on the camera casing 3, and the screws SC1 are screwed in the internal-thread holes 3b provided on the four corners of the camera casing 3. Thus, the camera module Z is assembled.
Rlated arts are disclosed in Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. 47-33986 and Utility Model Registration Application Laid-open No. 64-29790.
With respect to the above prior art camera module Z shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, however, the work to put the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 through the through-hole 3f of the camera casing 3 (FIG. 13) is required.
And, in order to enhance the sealability of the through-hole 3f of the camera casing 3, the clamp 50 attached to the wiring harness 4 has to be tightened to the threaded portion provided indise the through-hole of the camera casing 3.
Further, the connector CR1 has to be coupled to the connector CR2. Therefore, the above work has to be carried out by hand, which requires much time and costs and therefore deteriorates the productivity.
And also, the wires 4a,4axe2x80x2 are likely to be caught between the camera module Y and the camera casing 3 as shown in FIG. 12. Accordingly, the wire 4a and the drain wire 4axe2x80x2 are likely to be cut off, thereby causing a defective.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary module for attachably and detachably connecting a casing, provided with an auxiliary like a camera and with a baseplate, with mating parts like wires by using connectors and to a relaying component used in the auxiliary module, wherein a catch of the wires is prevented when the auxiliary module is assembled.
In order to achieve the above object, as a first aspect of the present invention, an auxiliary module use relaying component comprises: a flexible printed circuit; a first electrically connecting part attached to one end of the flexible printed circuit; and a second electrically connecting part attached to aother end of the flexible printed circuit, wherein the flexible printed circuit, the first electrically connecting part, and the second electrically connecting part are integrated with synthetic resin.
As a second aspect of the present invention, based on the first aspect, the flexible printed circuit has an insulative sheet and a plurality of circuit conductors extending from one end of the flexible printed circuit to another end thereof, terminals are provided on each of the first electrically connecting part and the second electrically connecting part, the terminals of the first electrically connecting part are connected to respective one ends of the circuit conductors of the flexible printed circuit, the terminals of the second electrically connecting part are connected to respective another ends of the circuit conductors of the flexible printed circuit, and the first electrically connecting part is electrically connected to the second electrically connecting part.
As a third aspect of the present invention, based on the first aspect, the flexible printed circuit is bent at a determined position and integrally formed with synthetic resin.
As a fourth aspect of the present invention, an auxiliary module use relaying component comprises: a plurality of busbars each having a first electrical contact portion on one end thereof, a second electrical contact portion on another end thereof, and a body portion connecting the first and second electrical contact portions, the busbars being integrated with synthetic resin, wherein a first connector main body portion having the first electrical contact portion is formed at one end, and a second connector main body portion having the second electrical contact portion is formed at another end.
As a fifth aspect of the present invention, based on the fourth aspect, each of the plurality of busbars is formed of sheet metal and bent at a determined position, and the plurality of busbars are integrally formed, in a parallel arrangement, with synthetic resin.
As a sixth aspect of the present invention, an auxiliary module comprisea: a baseplate having terminals and equipped with an auxiliary; a relaying component formed by integrally resin-molding a first electrically connecting portion having terminals and a second electrically connecting portion having terminals; and a casing, wherein a connector housing for the first electrically connecting portion is formed on the casing, a connector is formed on the casing by installing the first electrically connecting portion in the connector housing, and the terminals of the baseplate are connected to the terminals of the second electrically connecting portion when the baseplate is attached to the casing.
As a seventh aspect of the present invention, based on the sixth aspect, the connector of the casing is electrically connected with an outer connector.
As an eighth aspect of the present invention, based on the sixth aspect, an engaging portion is provided on the connector housing of the casing, and another engaging portion to engage the engaging portion is provided on the first electrically connecting portion of the relaying component.
As a ninth aspect of the present invention, based on the eighth aspect, a fixing portion is provided on the casing, and an attaching hole for the fixing portion is provided on the relaying component.
As a tenth aspect of the present invention, based on any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, the module is a camera mounted on a motor vehicle, while forming a camera module.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.